Observations and Reflections
Much like most of the director Makoto Shinkai’s work, Suzume’s emotional core sucker punches you as you follow a tale of far-fetched supernatural occurrences. Bringing back themes of time, remembrance, and the butterfly-effect from his previous films, Shinkai weaves a narrative that emphasizes the importance of learning to live with our traumas, rather than suppressing them.
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At this year’s MET Gala, most celebrities found it relatively easy to stick to the theme, owing to its simplicity and directness, Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty. But the result was extremely boring, drawing a response of apathy from its audience.
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Lydia Tar is a narcissist. This is evident right from the first scene of the film – where Tar discusses her views of music and herself with a journalist. She is a terrible person, but still a complex one. This is where the greatness of Tar lies.
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The words that first come to mind when thinking about Park Chan-Wook’s 2016 erotic-thriller, The Handmaiden, are sumptuously delectable. Hidden among the layers of beautifully meticulous costuming matched by equally detailed set design, is a sharply-crafted tale of finding freedom and love in an oppressive and patriarchal environment.
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The Triangle of Sadness’s opening credits show male models wearing speedos covered in the star-spangled banner as they get doused in paint in a way that is reminiscent of Jackson Pollock’s art. For a while after the credits ended and the movie trudged along, I wondered what it meant. Was it a metaphor for something I missed? No. It’s Ruben Östlund’s way of introducing you to a film that is entirely void of nuance, elevating satire on class and power structures to a whole new level of ridiculousness. There is no metaphor; this is all rich people nonsense.
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In a sea of jingoism, Pathan is a breath of fresh air. Yes, it is pumped full of testosterone and has that tired Indo-Pakistan conflict at heart, but thankfully the film doesn’t vilify an entire nation or religion. Thank god for small mercies.
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“Aur yeh hai mera personal torture chamber (this is my personal torture chamber)”, says a character of Netflix India’s newest OTT release, Class, as she refers to her bedroom that looks more like it belongs on the cover of an Architectural Digest. The girl in question belongs to one of the richest families in all of Delhi and she is speaking to a Dalit boy who is attending Delhi’s finest school, Hampton International, on a scholarship. Although this is meant to be a moment of awareness for the rich characters, the show is sadly rife with such glib remarks.
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Wheat fields were a common subject of Vincent Van Gogh’s art, and it was in one of those fields that the iconic painter took his own life. At the Van Gogh 360 show, these paintings are nothing more than a background for couples to take cute #OOTD pictures for their Instagrams.
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